The B.C. Civil Liberties Association announced Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit in the B.C. Supreme Court against Canada’s electronic surveillance agency, the Communications Security Establishment Canada, saying that its broad and unchecked surveillance of Canadians is unconstitutional.

In an age when public exposure seems to be a global fetish, never has the right to privacy or the rhetorical Big-Brother threat to it been more loudly declared.

From teenagers to politicians, people are sexting, creating Facebook pages celebrating the minutiae of their lives or following each other on Twitter and GPS while Yelping and crowdsourcing.

But will this apparently universal exhibitionism turn shy because the Men In The Shadows are monitoring our electronic lives?

I’m skeptical.

Privacy is a modern invention — the rack was one of the less-tame instruments that the state used in the past to ensure people didn’t keep secrets.

The rise of individualism and the concept of rights were catalysts for the legal idea of privacy forged in the 19th century.

In 1844, a British scandal over the government’s opening of an Italian revolutionary’s mail triggered a debate about whether public opinion would brook public policy pursued by other than public means.

Unfortunately, although there always has been a great wringing of hands over it, politicians always have answered yes — if only we knew what they knew.

The lawsuit launched Tuesday by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the OpenMedia.ca organization continues the debate — the clash between official secrecy and the right to privacy.

The groups say the Communications Security Establishment Canada, the secretive electronic spy agency, has been violating the constitution listening to conversations and collecting data including Canadian’s everyday Internet use.

The agency, which operates under opaque special authorizations and directives from the Minister of National Defence, insists it has acted within the law.

Nevertheless, the Civil Liberties and Open Media say Ottawa should not be snooping on us or monitoring our online behaviour because unaccountable and unchecked surveillance presents a “grave threat to democratic freedoms.”

“It is simply not enough for the government to ask Canadians to ‘trust’ their spy agencies,” said Caily DiPuma, a lawyer for the BCCLA. “We are not a society of blind faith — we are a society of accountability, transparency, and free and open debate.”

The lawsuit follows the revelations earlier this year of fugitive computer specialist Edward Snowden that the U.S. and its allies, including Canada, were engaged in massive worldwide spying and data mining.

Like the best of spooks and their agencies, the CSEC is little known and there is murky political oversight of this key part of our national security apparatus.

Governments argue with some force that those intent on destroying democracy or disrupting our economy do not play by Marquess of Queensberry rules.

And as a result — they say sometimes agents of the state need to open our mail, listen to our phone calls or follow our email.

Unfortunately, we’re not even sure what they’ve been doing, forget about what they found out. Do they listen to our phone calls? Do they read our email? Or, have they been “only” collecting terabytes of metadata in the hope computer algorithms can find hidden patterns in addresses to prevent terrorism?

We’ve been given a glimpse of cloak-and-dagger activity through a keyhole without context or plot.

“Such untrammelled spying will cause Canadians to censor themselves on matters that are perfectly legal but involve personal, business, political or the intimate details of one’s life for fear that such details will be intercepted by the spy,” warned Joseph Arvay, another BCCLA lawyer.

Really? Much as I’m concerned about what is going on, I doubt Canadians have been even slightly inhibited. I don’t think the fulcrum of this question truly is “privacy.”

It’s national security.

The real issue is: Do we have watchdogs in place to effectively police the spooks and their masters while ensuring the public is kept as fully informed as possible?

Snowden is proof positive we have neither the proper safeguards in place nor enough transparency.

This lawsuit might help rectify that.

But it is unlikely to resolve the paradox that people express a desire for state-of-the-art privacy protection while wallowing in narcissistic celebration and self-generated publicity.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Saskatoon loves its Christmas lights. The Enchanted Forest draws thousands of vehicles each week. The late Bob Hinitt worked for months building his light display, which drew thousands of cars each year to Wiggins Avenue. And Scott Lambie on Clinkskill Drive has continued the tradition with more than 70,000 dancing lights (up from 50,000 last […]

When it comes to gift giving, they say it’s the thought that counts. But many are wondering if Mayor Drew Dilkens was thinking at all when he gave Olympic superstar Michael Phelps — whose battles with booze are well known — a big bottle of Canadian Club whisky.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.